Changes to the Swedish family law that came into force on the 1^st of July 2006 aimed at introducing a more safety oriented approach to custody, contact or residence disputes where there is also a history of domestic violence. In the 1990s, a more gender sensitive and “holistic” approach to violence in intimate relationships was introduced in Sweden. In the wake of these developments, children who see or hear violence to a parent, typically the mother, have increasingly come to be defined as crime victims in their own right. It is argued that these developments are also a key to understanding recent changes in family law and policy on custody, residence or contact more broadly. A feminist framework for understanding violence in heterosexual relationships in combination with the redefinition of children who “witness” violence seem to have created a discursive opportunity structure enabling a shift in focus as regards violent fathers as parents, reaching into the area of family law.